Sunday, March 30, 2014

Fun With Aronofsky's 'Noah' and The Curse of Ham

I saw Aronofsky's movie Noah several hours ago.

Aronofsky is a genius. I enjoy his films and cinematic vision. He may fail in execution; the viewer is rarely bored. We should have more such risk-taking and ambitious filmmakers. American cinema would be better for it.

Moreover, Noah is a smart film that finds its impetus from a brilliant and basic assumption--the Bible is a work of mythology, how then to present an accurate view of magical thinking in the form of a powerful story, one that is really a parable about environmental disaster and human arrogance while also making lots and lots of money?

To my eyes, Aronofsky'sNoah is a big joke on the "faithful", and those "Christ followers" who believe that the Bible is the literal "truth".

The marks who I watched clap at the end of Noah here in Chicago were reverential and moved. Apparently, God was in the movie theater...for them.

I doubt that those viewers clapping in appreciation of Aronofsky's fun and smart (and yes, bloated) depiction of their sacred Noah story got his joke.

I was very curious about the film's take on Noah's son Ham. Would the film allude to his failings and how black folks were "cursed" as his descendants? Aronofsky is a smart man. How would he depict Noah's drunkenness, and how Ham would be punished for not being respectful to his father?

[There are other versions of this story which suggest something far more lurid was taking place with Noah's nudity.]

Sunday is the most segregated day of the week in the United States. Black folks worship together; white folks worship together. Latinos, Asians, and other people of color worship somewhere between those two poles in terms of the racial homogeneity in their respective houses of religious worship.

I believe that God/Crom/The Force has a sense of humor. There are too many seemingly bizarre wonders in the universe to think otherwise.

The sequel to Aronofsky'sNoah should focus on Ham and his life in exile. Given how Ham's tale will eventually be used to justify the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, what are some potential titles for a sequel to Aronofsky's take on said Biblical epic, where Ham, wandering the Earth, spawns a "new" "race" of people who are "black" in color--and thus marked as natural and permanent slaves as a result?

Here are my entries:

Noah 2: Ham Strikes Back
Noah 2: Bigger and Blacker
Noah 2: Rise of the Dark Side
Noah 2: Dark Side of the Moon
Noah 2: Once You Go Black You Never Go Back
Noah 2: Black to the Future

If you want to read a primary source on southern slavery apologetics from a religious point of view, James Henly Thornwell's writings are available online. Here's a link with it opened to the section (hopefully it'll work): https://archive.org/stream/collectedwritin00adgegoog

It's frighteningly contemporary in regards to modern conservative talking points.

I thought the movie looked like it might be interesting; now I really want to go. I always loved the story of The Flood. All those animals (I love animals) and it was the original disaster story. I like disaster, apocalypse, zombie, etc. films to this day.

Titles. All these are good, can't think of many more. I like puns, so I don't know if these make much sense, but ...

Tips and Support Are Always Welcome

Who is Chauncey DeVega?

I have been a guest on the BBC, National Public Radio, Ring of Fire Radio, Ed Schultz, Sirius XM's Make it Plain, Joshua Holland's Alternet Radio Hour, the Thom Hartmann radio show, the Burt Cohen show, and Our Common Ground.

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I am a contributing writer for Salon and Alternet.

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